Academic Achievement
by GunRecon 11
Summary: Walk with Clove as she looks back on the process of turning a child into a monster during the final moments of her life.
1. Conscription

_So your life really does flash before your eyes..._ Clove thought hazily, mumbling some random consolement to Cato as he shook her.

She couldn't help but be angry. How couldn't she? She'd screwed up. She hadn't been paying attention. She could be cutting on 12 right now while the 11 boy lay in a pool of his own blood had she just payed attentions. But no. Her taste for blood was just _too strong_.

She couldn't remember a time when the sight of blood didn't please her. But she could, couldn't she? Her entire life was suddenly layed out before her like an art display.

_Why not enjoy the view? _She thought as she let herself drift.

**CLOVE, AGE 4**

**SHORTLY AFTER THE 63rd HUNGER GAMES**

"Clove, honey, can you come down here?"

Four-year-old Clove ran down the stairs as fast as she could, handily leaping over the staircase railing as opposed to taking the last few steps. She was told once before she was nimble for her age, but she wasn't quite sure what it meant.

In the living room was her mother and father, sitting down on their respective chairs just as they always were. They had upset looks on their faces, as if trying to convey a message to her. In the doorway stood a man and a woman, both of which Clove could briefly recognize from somewhere. Maybe the TV, which they watched every year because it was just "something you should do" according to Mommy.

The female rolled her eyes at Clove's accidental display of athleticism, but the male looked at her with interest. He seemed to be building a room around her, the way his eyes darted back and forth before finally settling on her. She grew uncomfortable.

"Hello sir. Ma'am." she said, remembering what Daddy said about manners.

"She isn't worth our time, Brutus. Lets try that Titus boy, _he_ seemed more than eager to join."

"And he will. But he's a boy, and he may as well be in class 71 for his age and build. I'm thinking about class 74."

"That doesn't add up."

"The Games are never just about size, Enobaria."

"Last I checked, a 12 year old has never won."

"I'm not having that argument right now. And class 74 is spread thin on girls as is, and the District can't afford to eliminate all of a gender from the program like last year. Snow, the mayor...they'll have our heads." The woman clearly looked like she was about to argue, but kept her mouth shut when the man shot her a deathly glare.

Clove grew more uncomfortable. The man cleared his throat.

"So, Clover..."

"Clove, sir." His face cracked into an amiable grin, and Clive wasn't as scared anymore

"Of course. My apologies." he said, chuckling. "Well, Clove, we were wondering if you have any interest or have been told about The Academy?"

"Yes sir. I mean, I know about it." He nodded in approval.

"Good. Are you interested?" Clove shuffled and looked at her feet, trying to decide between lying or telling the truth. Her father gently encouraged her.

"Just speak your mind, Clove. It isn't a test, the nice man just wants to know."

"Well, sir..." she began, but Brutus interrupted her.

"Don't call me sir. You don't know me enough to respect me, so don't try."

"But sir...I mean, you're older than me"

"Respect is earned with skill, not age, Clover." Clove didn't bother correcting him this time. It was a habit most people fell into after a while. Clove felt like a broken word, incomplete. It didn't roll off the tongue like Clover did. Clover was right. Clover was whole.

"Okay. Well, a lot of people get hurt in the TV, and that's where the Academy kids go, right? That's where all the bad kids go. Have I been bad?" Brutus roared with laughter at this comment.

"No." his deep voice boomed. "you've done nothing of the sort. The Academy is for strong kids. Are you strong?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "Stronger than you!" She didn't know why, but she liked this man. He was funny, kind of like a grandpa who was also your best friend.

"Then you won't get hurt on the TV. You remember parcel day? The people on the TV fight for that, see? It's like a game."

"And the prize is bread, turkey, potatoes..." Clove trailed off.

"That's right. Would you like to go to the Academy and learn how to make Parcel day happen again?

"Yeah, yeah!"

Cloves mother buried her head in her arms, defeated, while her father looked into her eyes and gave her a gentle nod. Something like pain flashed across his face, and his eyes dimmed. He muttered something she couldn't understand, but it clearly wasn't meant for anybody else but her.

"It will be hard. Harder than anything you've ever done. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She said eagerly. Brutus' smile grew as he made his way to the door, Enobaria on his tail.

"Alright then, Clover. We'll come by tomorrow, but for now, I'll leave you with your family. Good night." he said before shutting the door

Her father waved her off as her mother began to sob quietly.

**CLOVE, PRESENT DAY**

She could see her father now, as each syllable passed under his breath when he spike those last words that night. Two simple words that now held so much meaning as her world darkened, Cato frantically begging her to hold on.

_I'm sorry._

_I'm sorry too, Dad._


	2. Day 1

**CLOVE, AGE 4**

**DAY 1**

**CLASS 74**

"You aren't allowed to play with your friends anymore, Clover."

"Why not?"

"Because they chose wrong."

Enobaria had been trying to get this concept through the 4-year-olds head for hours now. She'd nod, agree, and the second Enobaria turned her back, she'd be running away from the training center and towards the school, six blocks away. She was resilient, but a proper tribute had to be resilient and teachable, and Clove was sorely lacking in the latter. She would have to be broken and built back up before she could represent District 2 in the Games.

May as well get started now.

"Clover, I can tell I'm not getting through to you. And I'm starting to think, maybe you aren't as strong as you say."

"You're just scared of me!" she replied, sticking out her tongue. "You're just scared me and my friends will beat you up!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!"

"Why do you need your friends?" This stopped her short, and Clove just looked down and shrugged.

"Because they're my friends."

"You need them because you're weak. Admit it." Enobaria said savagely.

"No, I'm not!"

"Then go in there alone and prove me wrong!"

"Fine!" She shouted, storming off towards the training center.

Enobaria grinned, her sharpened teeth sliding into each other in what felt like perfect harmony.

**THE ACADEMY  
**

"Get up!"

Clove's arms collapsed out from under her, burning in agony. She'd been doing push-ups for a little over a minute, longer than any of the others had. But because of her fight with Enobaria, she'd been late, and the instructors didn't appreciate lateness.

"I said get up!" A kick to the ribs flipped her over as she tried to struggle to her feet. The instructor, a man decked out in District 2 sponsored attire, went by the name of Menendez. The class of 74, however, had been instructed to call him "instructor" only. He glared at her, before shouting again. Clove fought the urge to wipe his spittle from her face.

"Kick yourself to your feet. Do it now!"

Clove tried. She really did. But all she accomplished was looking like a fool in front of the entirety of class 74. The instructor looked down on her in disgust.

"You have fallen on your ass in a fight for your life, and that's the closest you have to a recovery?! You are a disgrace!"

He jabbed his ever-present baton into her stomach, and that was the first of many times Clove experienced what electricity did to the human body. She screamed loudly in protest as her body jerked about on the training center floor, and heard laughter as she lost control of her bodily functions. The instructor yanked the baton away long enough to shout at the class to be quiet, that they'd be next, before hitting her in the sternum. Hard.

"That is not a fraction of what you will experience when a spear goes through your gut because you were unable to recover! Get out of my sight!"

She attempted to get up, and was succesful. Her first step was done a bit shakily, her second, even more so. She looked at the floor, which swooped past her, and hesitantly tried for a third.

Clove blacked out.


	3. Fade

**CLOVE, AGE 4**

**END OF DAY 1**

"Hello?" Clove called out hesitantly. Her entire body felt icy-hot, as if she were both freezing to death and burning alive. The feeling radiated from her stomach, the place where the instructor had jabbed the baton. There she felt two solid pinpricks of agony, and it was all she could do not to scream.

She hesitantly stood, remembering what happened the last time she tried getting up. Something warm trickled from her nose, and it didn't take long to discover that it was blood. Despite the dimly lit room, she could see the crimson smeared on the matted floor, a stark contrast on the navy-blue surface. Her nose throbbed painfully. She must have landed directly on top of it, since she passed out before she fell.

"Hello?" She called out again, louder. "I'll do better, I promise. Just turn on the light."

"What, and let the instructors know I'm up?" Said a voice from behind her. She spun, tripped, and landed on her back. Her head cracked against the mats, which obviously covered concrete or some other hard, unforgiving surface. Her entire skull throbbed angrily.

"Who...who are you?" She whimpered. "Come out!"

A boy stepped out from the shadows. He wore all black, black jeans, black shoes, black shirt...even his hair blended into the darkness. He held a baton in his gloved hand. Clove backpedaled quickly at the sight of it.

"Please don't." She begged, and the boy simply smirked.

"I'm not gonna hurt you unless you try to hurt me." he said, twirling the baton and putting it into his belt loop. "Do that, and I'll knock you out and leave you to the instructors. Deal?"

"Yeah." He held out a hand, and Clove pulled herself up slowly. The boy caught her as she fell again, surprised at the dizziness she felt. Slowly, she weaned herself off his support, until she could stand again.

"You were the girl who was late, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Clove." The boy stiffened. "What's wrong?" Clove asked.

"We don't have names anymore." he said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"They gave us numbers and told us we weren't allowed to use our names anymore." he whispered. "If they catch you, you'll get in trouble."

"So what am I?"

"You're 7. I'm 9." He paused, deep in thought. "My name is Fade."

"Hello 9. I'm 7. I'm going to eat you."

"What?" he asked, bewildered. Clove grinned.

"Didn't you hear? 7 ate 9." Fade grinned back.

"Or 9 ate 7." he replied.

"That's backwards."

"You're backwards."

"Whose 8, then?"

"My brother, Cato."

"Okay. So what does he do in all this?"

"In what?"

"The eating?"

"Oh." He furrowed his brow, before cracking a smile. Putting the baton over his shoulder, he leaned back, and began a dramatic march around the room.

_"We represent the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild..." _Clove started giggling, and Fade immediately shot her the universal _shut up _glare.

"Do you _want _to be beaten again? Fade sighed. "We've been out to long, I'll get you to the Recruit Barracks so we can both get some shut-eye." he wrinkled his nose. "You wet yourself." Clove blushed, embarrassed. "It's fine, I did the same thing. You learn to use the bathroom a lot. I'll get you to the female barracks so you can clean yourself up. You're bed will be labeled, 7. Follow me."

They walked down the hallway for a bit, and Fade simply pointed to one of the doors.

"Goodnight, 7."

"Goodnight, Fade." She turned to look at him, but when she did, he was somehow gone.

**A/N: The "lollipop guild" joke is from The Wizard of Oz, and is based on the logic that a guild based around lollipops is useless and just their to look nice. Cato (8) is only in the joke (7 ate 9) to make it look good. (Like 7, 8, 9) Credit goes to my mom for the joke.  
**


End file.
